


Avengers: The Last Airbender

by thenewdarling



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: that sweet sweet crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24420883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenewdarling/pseuds/thenewdarling
Summary: TLAverse as told in the Marvel Multiverse.Steve is the Avatar who, after defeating Fire Lord Thanos at the onset of the war, is submerged in the ocean and lost for fifty years, awakening in a post-War Republic City. Tony is a Harmonic Convergence Airbender who discovers the sunken ship.Nebula and Gamora are Thanos' children, and are kind of like Zuko/Azula, and ALSO Amon/Tarrlok? It's gonna get Emotions.Bucky is another metalbender, lost in the war.... haha unless?Star-Lord is Momo.This also seems like it has legs to get very long? I'm taking it as it comes.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	1. The Boy In The Iceberg

_Fire._   
_Air._   
_Water._   
_Earth._

_For many years, the four nations had lived together in harmony. But now, everything has changed. The Fire Nation, led by a cult of personality, set out to turn the earth into an Empire._

_Only the Avatar, master of all four elements and bridge between the human and spirit worlds, can calm the flames, and bring balance to the nations once more._

The final showdown.

As the Fire Nation ships rolled over the coastline, hurling enormous balls of molten rock and jets of flame at oncoming soldiers, Fire Lord Thanos stood resolute on a podium. Facing him, alone, was Steve Rogers. 

A young Earthbender, barely old enough to be fighting, he stood in a wide stance, jaw grit, eyes locked, feet planted.

"You don't have to do this," he said. "You can call this whole thing off and spare all these lives."

"Young Avatar..." Thanos said, cracking his neck. "This is inevitable." And he snapped his fingers.

The heavens opened, and an enormous lightning-bolt arced through his golden gauntlet directly at Steve.

Pulling his arms up, he raised a shield of dirt and grit to block the blow, sending dust and rock fragments flying everywhere. "Well, you leave me no choice." And he took off with a sprint.

Thanos hurled fireballs bigger than Steve had ever seen. He leapt, once, twice, three times and they glanced off to the side, missing, and then he'd closed the gap. He was, after all, an Earthbender. Fighting from close-quarters was second nature to him.

Trading blows with Thanos, the two of them were evenly matched. And then Thanos caught his fist in his gauntlet. He squeezed. Steve cried out, the pain breaking his guard. But then, Steve brought up a free foot, and connected with Thanos' side. 

Thanos' grip broke, and Steve jumped back a touch, enough to get his fists up.

That was all the opening Thanos needed though, hurling a torrenting whirlwind of fire at Steve. He kept up the blast for what felt like minutes.

Eventually relenting, he looked to see the results of his attack. And then, gasped.

His gauntlet was gone.

In front of him, pushed back several feet by the blast - a floating gold disc of what used to be his gauntlet, metalbent into scrap. 

Eyes peeking over it, sweat dripping down his brow, was Steve. The righteous fury in those eyes was almost hotter than his flame. He'd used it as a shield to deflect the blow.

Steve panted with exertion.

"You'll pay for that!" Thanos said, waving his hands and beginning to conjure another lightning bolt.

"I can do this all day."

Steve raised a hand, and punched the disc. Half of it lobbed off and bent round Thanos' hand, preventing it from moving. Then, he punched the other half of the disc, and constrained the other hand. Bringing his arms up, he wrapped Thanos' legs in a rock prison. Thanos wriggled, roaring in anger.

Summoning the four elements, Steve floated into the air, opening the Avatar State. Placing a finger on Thanos' forehead, he looked into his mind, and took his bending away.

"It's over," Steve said, with finality. He turned, and with a wave of his hand, all the restraints dropped. Thanos dropped to his knees, spent. He tried to summon a jet of flame, but nothing happened.

"You can't stop what I've started, Avatar. This is bigger than us."

"Call off your forces. There's nothing more you can do," Steve said. His voice still boomed with the Avatar State.

Thanos looked up. "Oh really." And he grinned.

Steve looked, and saw as one of the new zeppelins of the Fire Nation was about to drop charges on them both. Summoned the strength of a hundred Avatars before him, he punched a flame jet up into the air, piercing the balloon. It wavered, and began to fall.

Towards the city. 

Steve paled. "Oh no."

Thanos chuckled. "Look upon your work, God's righteous man."

Not taking the time to respond, Steve summoned an air current and floated up onto the zeppelin. He had to stop it. He had to bring it down safely, into the ocean, out of the way of the civilians.

Bringing the full power of the Avatar State, he summoned a circle of wind around the entire zeppelin, dragging it off to the side. His teeth grit so hard he thought he could feel them crack under the pressure.

The water was cold, so cold it burned him to touch it, and he gasped, taking in water. He felt a burst of energy as the Avatar State kicked into overdrive, fighting to save him, and then... blackness smothered his vision...

_Two months later_

_Old Timey Newscaster: With Thanos' firebending removed, the tide of the war has turned! Internal politics weakened their structure, confused their propaganda machine, and as such, the Fire Nation has been overturned earlier than would've been expected! With heavy casualties on both sides, the two Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom came together as one and brought peace to the nations! We mourn the loss of the Avatar, lost in the battle, who died heroically saving civilians from an oncoming airship!_

_Fifty years later_

_Old Timey Newscaster: Republic City - a technological and diverse capital of trade, a symbol of lasting peace created from an old Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom as part of the armistice! Here, a new island opens as the four damaged Air Nomad Temples come together to rebuild as one new Air Temple Island! And overlooking them in the bay, the statue of the Final Avatar who died to end the fighting!_

#

"Ok, test number three," Tony said, shaking himself limber. The air at the top of the mountain ravine was thin, their airbender robes did not do well to keep out the cold.

"Tony, I really don't think this is a good idea," Rhodey said, eyeing the scrapes and bruises all over his friend's face.

"Are you on my team or not?"

"The Air Nomads perfected these robes over thousands of years, what makes you think you can improve on that?"

Tony looked down at the skin-tight red and gold flight-suit he'd made. "Science. Come on Rhodes, they have us flying around on sticks. This will work. This time, I'm sure of it."

Rhodey sighed. They'd made quick friends at orientation but Tony seemed hell-bent on breaking all the rules set by the monks. Of all the new airbenders created by harmonic convergence, he was the least open to obeying their customs.

Rhodes rubbed the bridge of his nose.

And then, for the third time today, Tony turned, took a running start, and leapt off the cliff.

The cold was the first thing that hit him as his limbs flapped in the breeze. Tony grinned. It almost felt like flying. "Ok... here we go." And he pressed the hidden button in the glove of his wing-suit to deploy the flaps.

Nothing happened.

"God dammit! Come on! Come on!!!" He started smacking his hands together, trying to force the mechanism to fire.

And then it did. It was almost like a little flying-squirrel flap under his arm but it was enough to catch the wind.

In an instant, he was sent hurtling upwards, carried by the current. "WOOOO!" he shouted, completely unable to steer, just trying to keep himself up. He glided through the canyon, as though a bird in flight.

Time for test number two. Calling on his nascent airbending, he twisted the current underneath him. Only slightly, but that was all it took. And then he was flying up and doing loop-the-loops. Hovering over Rhodey, he grinned. "Yeah. I can fly."

Rhodey blinked. "It... actually worked."

"And you doubted me," he said, swinging round again and sending himself off like a rocket.

Floating over the sea, he felt the salt curl over his fingers, through his hair, up his nose. He smiled. He could get used to this, he thought.

And then, one of the wings ripped. "Oops," he said, and then he started to flounder in the air. 

The other wing did a valiant job of holding him up by itself, but then, with a rip, it joined its brother. Tony tumbled out of the air and dropped into the sea.

He opened his eyes, gasping, and then the water hitting his lungs made him panic. The cold must have knocked him out a few seconds. Bringing his hands together in a clap, a huge gust of air opened up in the water around him, giving him a second to cough up the water and take a gasp of air before holding his breath.

Where was he? Which way was up? How did he-

What ... was....

There was a glowing structure in front of him, he noticed, as he drifted under the water, unable to see which way was the surface. It looked like the top of an old ship, creaky and rusted and metal, but inside was some kind of strange light source. Light blue and glowing, pulsing. Initially he'd assumed some kind of bioluminescence but...

Kicking his feet, he moved towards it.

It was a person. An extremely broad man with blond hair, encased in ice. His eyes glowed blue and he stood in a wide earthbending stance, fists clapped together. His skin was frozen like it was encased in crystal. Some kind of statue? Swimming through an empty window frame, he approached.

Definitely not a statue - Tony thought, resting a hand on the man's cheek. His skin was frozen to the touch, but it was definitely skin.

And then, Tony's lungs ran out of air and he coughed. More water let in. He started to drop to the floor, trying to summon the energy to clap again and produce another breath of air.

He looked up at the strange, frozen man. For a moment he wondered if he would be joining him in this cold, empty tomb.

And then he noticed the glowing handprint on his face where Tony had touched him.

All the water rushed out of the ship. Tony gasped for breath on the sodden floorboards, as the man burst into flames, melting the ice around him.

Tony looked up. "No way... it can't be..."

The man looked down at him, gasping for breath as though his lungs had been empty for a hundred years. "Where am I? What happened?"

With the ice melted, Tony recognised him immediately from the history books. From his father's photographs. From the statue in the bay. "You're... the Avatar."

"Well, I was the last time I looked," he said. "Howard?" he said, squinting as he looked at him.

"What?" Tony said.

"Uh... nothing. You looked like someone I know is all. Where are we?"

"Deep underwater. This is some kind of underwater wreck," Tony said.

"Maybe we should continue our conversation on dry land," the Avatar said. He looked up at the ceiling, waved an arm, and the top of the hull crumpled and ripped away. The water outside remained held there as though by a force field. He grabbed Tony around the waist, and they rocketed up through the water at high speeds.

Landing on the ground by the coast, Steve gasped, resting on his knees. "What the hell's going on..." His vision was swimming. "Are you an airbender? Those robes look... weird."

"If you're who I think you are..." Tony said. "I.." but Steve didn't hear much more, before he blacked out.

#

Steve awoke in a small bed, in a little room. It was a humble little Air Nomad settling, the kind he'd slept in many nights when he'd stayed with the monks to master airbending. But something was... wrong.

It started with just a tingle in the back of his head, his common sense ringing, but then he noticed it. The cloth that made up the sheets of the bed were of a strange material, and as he stood, head still swimming, he noticed the view out the window. That didn't make any sense.

A young woman walked in. "Good morning, Avatar." She wore Air Acolyte robes, and those matched his memories entirely.

"... Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in the Eastern Air Temple, we brought you here to recover after your fight with the Fire Lord."

His brow furrowed. "Where am I really?"

"I..." she gulped. Her breath hitched. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"We can't be in the Eastern Air Temple, the air's not thin enough. I spent six months there. So again. Where am I?"

"... Avatar, I-"

And then, the door burst open as two men with heavy metal armour stomped in.

BANG. Steve sent them hurtling through the wall, and then ran out the hole they'd produced by being thrown through it.

It was some kind of warehouse. He was in a set. He ran, and punched a hole through the wall with his metalbending, and tumbled out into a street.

There were so many people, his head swinging from side to side, disoriented. Just going about their day. A city this big, Ba Sing Se? But no, their fashion was so eclectic. The buildings so smoggy, he'd never seen the like. Running down the road, he halted, as some kind of oncoming machine screeched to a halt in front of him. It beeped at him loudly. A person inside, angry.

"What the..." he said.

And then he was surrounded by those men in metal armour. Pulling up a stance, getting ready to fight his way out, a man pushed to the front. "At ease! Everyone at ease! Calm down!"

A bald man with an eyepatch. Steve looked around, and seeing everyone put down their hands, he reluctantly did the same.

"What's going on?" Steve asked. "What is this place?"

"I'm sorry about the subterfuge, Avatar. I'm Nicholas Fury, Chief of Police for Republic City. We thought it would be better to break it to you slowly."

"What are you talking about? Where's Republic City?"

"You've been asleep, Avatar. For over fifty years."

He looked around. The buildings, byzantine and smoke-stained. The guards, police officers he could now see - but their armour was ornate, sculpted - like nothing he knew anyone could do with metal. He started to breathe heavily.

"Are you ok? Do you need to sit down?" Fury asked.

"No, no. I'm fine. I- did we win?"

"What?"

"The war. Did we win the war?"

"It's complicated."

Steve sat down, rubbing his face and trying to get the stars to stop spinning in his eyes.


	2. Reunion

_"The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."_

Bucky stirred as he woke, curtains of black hair falling in front of his eyes. "I am honoured to accept his invitation."

"Much has changed since we last woke you, Agent Barnes."

#

_Two months later_

"Sit down, we're gonna miss the best part!" Steve said, sitting his popcorn in front of him.

"I don't know how you watch this crap," Nat said, rolling her eyes. She was still working in the seat next to him, drawing designs on a sketchbook.

"Aw man, they never had anything like this back home! Bending has changed so much in such a short time! It's so thrilling!" Steve said.

"Yeah, I just wish they'd let airbenders compete..." Tony said, leaning forward. "It almost makes me wish Harmonic Convergence had made me a waterbender or something."

Steve felt a sudden twinge of angst as he always did whenever he remembered. Everything was so different these days, and the new Air Nation was truly thriving, he could almost forget that they'd had to rebuild from the ground up. And it had happened under his watch.

The match kicked off, and it was pretty evenly fought. The red team, the Revengers, had managed to score an early lead but it was still anyone's game.

Steve threw popcorn back into his mouth, watching intently. When suddenly, he felt something was wrong.

He stood up, and there was an explosion in the stands on the other side of the arena.

Then another, and another. Round in a ring. Some kind of charges. Coming this way.

Nat looked up, leaping into action. Steve pulled the metal shield off his back and held it in front of them as the explosion seared in front of them.

"What the hell's going on?" Steve said.

"I don't know..." Nat said. "There!" She pointed up at the ceiling as the glass roof smashed and several masked assailants descended on ropes.

"I'm on it," Tony said, pulling a cord on his airbending robe, revealing the glide suit underneath. He leapt from the balcony and flew towards them.

Steve hurled the metal disc and snapped one of the ropes clean, then metalbent it back to himself, and threw it in a curve at where he saw the man was going to fall as he launched himself off the balcony and glided to the ring.

As he landed, the man collided with the ground, punching the earth to break his fall. Then, a look up, and he caught the disc.

"That's not possible..." Steve said.

The disc had reshaped around his hand. But that wasn't just any metal.

The man punched the disc on the ground and it reshaped around his arm. He knew that technique...

"Where did you learn how to do that..." Steve said.

The man in the mask was silent.

They ran at each other, trading blows. Steve was at a disadvantage with that metal arm of the assailant, but he was lighter on his feet, and he used that to get the upper hand. He slipped behind him at the last second, then sent a blast of wind at his feet, knocking the assailant into the air.

That moment in the air seemed to last forever, as the assailant's mask came off, and the two locked eyes as the man fell to the ground.

"Bucky?" Steve asked, as the man looked up at him from the flat of his back.

The man looked furious. "Who the hell is Bucky?" And then, he punched the ground with his free hand, and a huge explosion of dust kicked up.

By the time Steve had airbent it away, the assailants had vanished.

Steve stood, shellshocked, on the arena. How was that possible?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a funny feeling this is going to just descend into a bunch of disconnected short fics updated whenever I think of a scene I want to write lol


End file.
